Perils of the Lost Jungle!

It had been far too long since we braved the Perils of the Lost Jungle. Amelia didn't have school on Monday so we all headed out for some mini golf action. We love this place. There are crazy surprises at every hole (animatronic gorillas, komodo dragons, shrunken heads, secret passages, and lots of sound effects). And you get wet. Elsa was pretty freaked out. Amelia and I managed a few holes-in-one. Oliver enjoyed the scenery.

I wish we had video of what transpired on the 18th hole. I helped Elsa hit her ball and we actually got a hole-in-one. She ran to the hole to grab her ball and a huge blast of air came out of the hole. Elsa's hair blew everywhere, her skirt flew up, and her ball flew out of the hole. She was stunned silent for a moment and then ran away screaming, declaring that she did NOT like this golf place. Maybe it's wrong, but I'm still laughing about it.









We tried out a new burger place that was nearby, Burger 7. Good burgers (my whole wheat bun was awesome!), yummy sweet potato fries, terrible shakes.

Cherry Blossom Sunrise (minus the sun)

Monday morning was my only chance to catch a glimpse of the cherry blossoms at sunrise. It was finally a warm day but turned out to be a cloudy morning. And windy. The tidal basin was lined with photographers waiting for that perfect morning light, and it never really came. Even though my photos weren't as colorful as last year, it was still a beautiful morning. It was really enjoyable to stroll around by myself and take my time snapping photos. It's always refreshing to get up for the sunrise. (By always I mean once a year.)










(I know. I know. Everyone has some version of this same photo. I know I have about 500.)

Spring Colors

We headed to the National Arboretum on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful picnic between conference sessions. We wandered around a bit and explored all the amazing colors and flowers. Just be warned: my posts of blossomy, flowery, spring photos are far from over...

Fireworks! and a camel flashback.

Saturday night I took the kids to Gravelly Point to watch the Cherry Blossom Festival fireworks while Ben was at the Priesthood session of General Conference. We had a moment of silence for camel #1 who was lost at these same fireworks two years ago.

It was a pretty cold night but we huddled together and had fun. Oliver never even knew we were there. He fell asleep on the way and thankfully stayed asleep during the whole adventure. There weren't nearly as many people there as last year, probably due to the chilly weather.

Amelia rambled on through the whole show telling us what magical animal created each firework. She was beside herself during the finale. At the end Elsa said "That was awesome! I want to go to the car and get warm."

Light as a Feather

Parents were invited to attend Amelia's ballet/tap class last week to see what the kids have been learning (we're not allowed to sit in on the classes normally). They received their costumes for the end-of-the-year recital and the girls were giddy with excitement. It was like a pink chicken coop in there with all the hot pink feathers flying everywhere and everything was covered in glitter from the hats. The girls put their costumes on and then showed us how their dance is coming along. I could do without the Miss America song, but I have to admit that the girls were pretty cute. Particularly my little curly-haired Amelia.

Here is a sneak peak, although I'm sure I will post more photos after the recital in June. I've got to get my money's worth out of that costume.















The full routine:

Food + Friends

We were so happy to have our friends the Dyckmans stay with us this past weekend. Our kids just adore their kids and it was so fun to see them all playing together again. Despite the chilly weather (it snowed Sunday morning!) Ben grilled up some chicken and salmon for dinner. After the kids were in bed we had fun playing games and eating one of my favorite flavors of Dairy Godmother custard, lemon meringue pie.

So many of my most delicious and favorite recipes come from my friend Sarah. She introduced me to ebelskivers a few years ago and on Sunday morning she made us the most heavenly lemon-mascarpone ebelskivers for breakfast. I'm attempting them again this weekend...



Ethan and Amelia had so much fun setting up a pretend store all morning. They even made price tags for everything and we all got a chance to go shopping:



A photo shoot before church: